Page 110 of Thaddeus

I looked to my side and up at my husband and he was smiling, too.

He leaned down to kiss my forehead before he turned his attention back to Declan.

Yeah, it was a great day.

My sister, my husband, and all of our friends were smiling.

A beautiful day to start a beautiful life.

Kyle

There was something in the protein powder and I wasn’t drinking it.

Two down.

And I had no doubt there would be babies being popped out left and right soon.

No thanks.

Not for me.

The settling down part, finding a good woman who shared my need for adventure, I could get on board with. The kid part, no way. Call me selfish, but I like to get up and go. Do what I want when I want, and in my limited experience around children, they’d seriously dampen my ability to be free.

Yeah, not for me.

“You think Max is gonna hold his shit together?” Dec cut through my thoughts.

We were in Dec’s rental driving back to The Del, and with the way he drove the normal twenty-minute drive would be ten.

“He’ll be cool. He just needs a good night’s sleep and time to think on it.”

I hoped I wasn’t lying. Max was bent. We all were. However, Max was the one who didn’t hide his displeasure or anger. He let that shit hang out and had no issues voicing his opinions, even if those opinions offended those around him. He wasn’t a dick, he was honest to a fault. He had no time for bullshit. He’d lived through enough of it.

Between Emerson being taken and the company as a whole being threatened by Omni, Max’s ability to keep his head straight was redlining.

“Yeah, I saw him. After we left Brooks’ room last night, he went patrolling,” Dec noted.

Max hadn’t slept at all last night. Instead, he walked the hotel grounds, paced in front of Brooks’ and Tatiana’s room, even walked the beach.

“That’s what he does. When shit is extreme it’s always Max who pulls into himself for a few days. He’ll sort himself and when he does, he’ll be cool.”

Declan nodded and I continued, changing the subject. “It was cool what you did for Emerson.”

“Pardon?”

“Getting Autumn to come to the wedding.”

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, likely trying to figure out a way to deny it.

I knew he’d had Thad’s phone traced, and even if Autumn’s number had come up blocked on Thad’s phone, Tex had mad skills and would’ve been able to get her number. Which he obviously had.

The longer I worked with Declan, the more I understood him. He put on a front that he was a heartless asshole, but he wasn’t. Every now and again he’d let his guard slip and he’d give us more of him. He’d obviously been burned by more than the CIA.

No one walls themselves off because their employer fucked them, even if they had by all accounts done him dirty.

“Don’t mention it,” he demanded, confirming what I already knew.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I muttered on an eye roll.